


The Way We Were

by HYPERFocused



Series: Motherless [2]
Category: Original Work, The Way We Were
Genre: Chronic Illness, Films, Gen, Memories, Memory Loss, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Poetry, Terminal Illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 14:57:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3533675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HYPERFocused/pseuds/HYPERFocused
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Misty, water-colored memories</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way We Were

The Way We Were.

I've never married Robert Redford  
but -- like Barbra --  
I have stood on a windy corner  
and passed out leftist leaflets  
to an unfriendly crowd.

My mother and I watched  
side by side on her king-size bed  
buttered popcorn salted wtih tears.

It was "our" movie.  
Just that one scene at the end  
her hand reaching up to brush his forehead  
in a remembered tender gesture.

She used to like me  
to sing the song  
on long car trips.  
It's a tune I can carry,  
but not very far.

My best friend copied the lyrics  
in her newly learned cursive.  
The paper is still folded  
in Mom's jewelry box.  
The friendship is a memory.

It's been a roller-coaster year.  
Sometimes she's loopy  
sometimes the decline is slow.  
The ride goes up and down,  
but it never ends.

Dad said she was shrieking  
and calling out  
for her (long dead) parents.  
Illness has taken the now,  
and shoved her back  
to the way we were.

I brush back her hair from her brow,  
and remember.

1999


End file.
